New Online Advertising Company Adify Debuts; Flycast Founders Reunite, Recruit Powerful, Diverse Management Team to Tackle New Problems Faced by Today's More Sophisticated Online Publishers

August 10, 2006; 06:04 AM
Adify Corporation unveiled an Internet advertising platform that brings new levels of visibility, control and economic benefits to both online advertisers and publishers. Adify offers publishers new ways to grow their business by increasing their share of self-service advertising, and by participating in tightly-focused vertical networks, while delivering marketers an easy way to find and buy highly-targeted advertising online.

Adify is the latest advertising solutions company from co-founders Larry Braitman and Richard Thompson. In 1996, they formed Flycast Communications, which revolutionized online marketing by creating the first blind advertising network to service the "long tail" of Internet Web sites. By optimizing campaigns across thousands of Web sites, Flycast created a new category that continues to dominate Internet advertising today.

Despite the popularity and growth of online ad networks as a means to monetize publishers' unsold ad space, they offer advertisers very limited control over the placement of their ads. Publishers, in turn, have minimal control over the ads appearing on their sites, and no direct relationship with their customers - the advertisers. These blind networks fail to meet the needs of advertisers that are selective about the sites on which their ads run, and inhibit the ability of publishers to create unique value around their content, audience and brand.

To overcome these drawbacks, Adify was created to enable and optimize direct, open transactions between advertisers and publishers. Adify sets a context where the power, control and choice is placed in the hands of advertisers and publishers, rather than in the hands of a network gatekeeper.

Adify provides a hosted, publisher-branded advertising storefront, which can be leveraged to sell text, graphic and rich media advertising inventory. The publisher sets the pricing and terms (CPM, CPC, sponsorship) of the ad space, and controls the display and placement of the ads. Adify provides all of the backend functionality required to execute the transaction, including ad management, tracking, reporting, billing and payment.

"Since we founded Flycast 10 years ago, online marketers and publishers have grown much more sophisticated and are demanding greater direct control over their key advertising relationships," said Adify co-founder and CEO Larry Braitman. "Adify addresses these emerging needs by enabling publishers to package, price and merchandize their online advertising space in a manner that enhances their unique brand and content."

Creating New Vertical Networks

In addition to enabling publishers to sell their ad space directly to advertisers, Adify has developed several vertically-oriented niche networks that address growing demand from advertisers who want to reach highly-targeted online communities.

In early July, Adify introduced Clip-Ins (www.clipins.com), a first-of-its-kind online advertising network specifically dedicated to the needs of advertisers and publishers in the cycling community. Powered by the Adify platform, Clip-Ins creates a new media option for the cycling industry, offers advertisers access to cycling publishers of all sizes, and delivers the broadest segment of cycling enthusiasts online. Adify also recently launched the Top Dog Network (www.topdognetwork.com), an advertising community that brings together dog enthusiasts for both publishers and marketers.

"My mission is to provide the Internet's most comprehensive and useful source of information on Portland's dynamic bike scene, and as owner and operator, I'm always looking for ways to get more done in less time while improving the quality and viability of the site," said Jonathan Maus, owner of BikePortland.org, an Adify publisher and member of the Clip-Ins Network. "Through Clip-Ins, I was able to set up a self-service storefront which included all the administrative tools required to accept advertising. In a matter of days, I was generating revenue from advertisers of all shapes and sizes without hiring an advertising sales force. Now, I can continue to focus on creating great content for the Portland cycling community knowing that I have a sustainable, long-term advertising solution in place."

Adify helps publishers maximize the long-term value of their sites. By selling directly to advertisers, publishers create stronger brands while taking more control over advertising relationships. Other ways that Adify helps publishers improve their businesses include:

-- Publisher-friendly commission structure increases income potential over comparable online advertising solutions;

-- Branded, self-service storefront enables relationships with new advertisers who prefer to buy online using self-service tools, and automates the ad sales process;

-- Hosted billing, ad serving, tracking, reporting, collecting and payment allows publishers to focus on developing and promoting great content;

-- Ability to set the price and terms of ad space sold through the storefront increases flexibility and control;

-- Customized storefront puts merchandising, ad space creation, advertiser approval and payment options in the publisher's hands; and

-- Ability to sell text, graphic and rich media advertising; on a sponsorship, CPM or CPC basis, improves flexibility.

Adify solutions also deliver new benefits to online marketers, including:

-- Easy access to highly targeted advertising opportunities;

-- Access new publishers of all sizes that are already connected to key target markets;

-- Streamlined advertising options directly on smaller sites, blogs and newsletters;

-- Increased control of the price and type of media buy;

-- Ability to purchase advertising on multiple sites in a single buy or directly on individual sites; and

-- Unmatched visibility and control over online ad placements.

In conjunction with its official unveiling today, Adify is also announcing a Series A round of financing of $8 million led by leading venture capital firm Venrock Associates. Venrock's Brian Ascher has joined Adify's board along company founders Larry Braitman and Richard Thompson, as well as outside Director Pierre Bouvard, who currently serves as president, sales and marketing, for Arbitron Inc.

Prior to starting Adify, Braitman and Thompson co-founded Flycast Communications, the Internet's first direct-response advertising network. Together, they helped lead Flycast from startup to a $500 million IPO, and through the subsequent acquisition of Flycast for $2.3 billion. Adify COO Russ Fradin and CTO Steve Heyman also served on the initial Flycast team, playing key roles in technology, strategy and business development through the company's acquisition. Fradin and Heyman have since held executive and senior management positions at industry leaders Yahoo!, comScore Networks, Wine.com and Engage.

About Adify

Adify was founded in 2005 by a group of online advertising pioneers from Flycast Communications, one of the original online ad networks. Adify's mission is to enable and optimize direct publisher-advertiser transactions, and to give both parties greater power, control and choice over their online advertising initiatives. Adify provides ad management, tracking, reporting, billing, payment and merchandising for online advertising. Adify is based in San Bruno, California and is funded by Venrock Associates.